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A BC strata that failed to deal with a decade-long water leak has been ordered to pay a condo owner $12,000 in compensation and fix the issue once and for all.

According to a July 13 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, Cheng Shiu-Chu Wu has lived with water getting into her Vancouver apartment since she moved there in 2003.

However, while Strata LMS 474 had made attempts to fix the water issue over the years, Wu still lived with endless water issues, especially prevalent after it rained.

The lengthy decision goes into detail about the water issues the highrise apartment block has faced, and the lack of action by the strata council.

The decision said over the years numerous emails sent by Wu, and her lawyer, were simply ignored and never responded to by the strata.

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In 2012, water was entering both of Wu's bedrooms and a year later the strata "ripped open" large portions of her flooring, put several holes in the walls, removed balcony paving tiles and uninstalled her air conditioning unit, all to investigate the water issue.

"It is unclear whether the strata did any repairs at that time," the Tribunal said. "In any event, Ms. Wu says the strata advised her to keep the holes open to monitor for further leaks."

It appears she lived with these holes for a decade.

In 2018, she told the strata she was still waiting on the un-repaired flooring and holes in the walls and that her guest bedroom was "unliveable."

The strata made some moves to get a proposal from a roofing company but the Tribunal said it's unclear whether the work was completed or would help Wu's situation.

A year later, the strata council meeting minutes said it got a quote to replace the existing waterproofing membrane on Wu's floor. But again the Tribunal said there is no evidence that the work was completed.

In 2021, Wu's insurance company said due to the number of claims she'd made regarding water in her apartment it wouldn't renew her insurance.

The condo owner asked for the leaks to be fixed right away so she could obtain insurance.

"There is no evidence of any response to this email," the Tribunal said.

Wu then hired a lawyer.

The strata ignored the lawyer's email as well.

READ MORE: BC Strata's actions 'unreasonable' – ordered to pay condo owner

In March 2022, Wu started her Civil Resolution claim and the strata started to move and hired three companies to investigate.

"Yet, despite these investigations and... flashing repairs, the water ingress has continued, and the cause of the water ingress remains inconclusive," the Tribunal ruled.

The Tribunal ruled that the strata had failed to adequately investigate the source of the water leaks between 2013 and 2022.

"I also find the strata did not follow the advice of professionals it hired," the Tribunal ruled, adding it had ignored the advice from two engineering companies that pitched solutions over the years.

"This is not a case where the strata reasonably decided to make temporary or imperfect repairs that ultimately did not fix the problem. Rather, I find the strata failed to take any reasonable action in the face of ongoing water ingress... into Ms. Wu’s strata lot for nearly a decade," the Tribunal ruled.

"Essentially, I find the only evidence that the strata engaged a professional to attempt repairs to specifically address the leaks in (Wu's) unit was... membrane flashing work in April 2022. While those repairs appear to have been reasonable, they did not resolve the problem," the Tribunal said.

The strata argued Wu's water issues would be fixed when an entire building envelope project went ahead and it should wait until then.

However, the Tribunal said this was unreasonable as it could be several years before any repairs were made.

READ MORE: BC couple awarded $5K for Strata's 'harsh' treatment over noise complaint

Ultimately, the Tribunal ruled the strata pay Wu $12,794 for the loss and enjoyment of her condo unit.

It also ordered the strata to hire an engineer to investigate the course of the water leak and fix it within 60 days.

The Tribunal went on to say if the engineer can't determine the source of water, the strata must hire a second engineer to find the source and then fix it.

An order was also granted that once the water issue was fixed the strata must pay for the flooring and holes put in the walls of Wu's condo a decade ago to be fixed.

While the Tribunal's decision is a win for Wu she'd originally claimed $69,000 in damages.

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